This invention relates to monitoring pyrogenic processes, and in particular to a method and to apparatus for monitoring pyrogenic processes such as combustion or pyrometallurgical processes, the latter being processes wherein metal compounds are processed at relatively high temperatures, so as to recover metal values from the raw materials, while producing process off-gases, and includes distillation of metals and metal compounds.
Although process modelling is established for a limited number of pyrometallurgical processes, e.g. the blast furnace for iron making, such models rely heavily on constant feed rates and composition, idealization of conditions and a knowledge of fundamental kinetic data. Without the latter, models are worthless in their ability to predict the state of reaction.
If no process model exists, reliance must be placed on either the experience of the process operators or the monitoring or sampling of the process or process streams. Accurate sampling of the phases in the furnace itself is often difficult and sometimes impossible. However, where a pyrometallurgical process generates gases, vapor, fume or dust, the composition there of and the way in which this changes over time can be used as an indication of the extent or state of reaction within the furnace. Manual sampling of the fume and subsequent chemical analysis is sufficiently time consuming and labor intensive as to be an impractical on-stream method for process monitoring.